St Kilda Cycling Club (World) Road Championships 2014
I like to support my club in racing most of their events and without bias. SKCC put on some of the BEST local racing right down to the minor details. Safe, Inclusive, Fun, Organised.
We had beautiful weather all weekend and the wind had picked up to a nice ripping northerly breeze. Not only was I excited to start the race, I had not ridden the course, so only knew the distance and that we were doing 3 laps of the main route.
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The day's lineup
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It was great to see the ladies out there again and we were ready to go, albeit without much of a warm up. The 11km to the start of the looping circuit was all head wind. All the ladies grades started together and were playing nicely until the first few kms, then we were all in the gutter trying to find shelter.
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| The calm before the HEADWIND. Photo: Peter Monagle |
I'd done a long ride in the hills the day before so I was not sure how the legs were going to go, as I assumed it was a flatter and more rolling course. In the end it was both a good thing and a bad thing that we didn't know what the course was like - We raced the first lap together and we didn't know how it was going to go. Then the second lap it was ON to try keep up with the front runners.
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| Trying to keep my cool - not sure what Bridie is pointing at... Photo: Peter Monagle |
After Bridie O'Donnell had taken off up the hill on the second lap, Margeaux Thompson and Clare Morgan were with her then Hannah Vine jumped across to them. We had almost bridged the gap with Dale, Annie and Brooke but it was all over by the last kicker hill and the tailwind section. There was still 1 lap to go!
We'd been dropped from the leaders, but still had to finish so it was "once more with feeling" as the corner marshal put it. I had to chuckle as we were not feeling the gusto at that point. Brooke Anderson and I set the pace up the hills and then worked with Clare Morgan when she dropped back from the leaders to get to the tail-wind section. It was sooooo good to hit that last 11km home with the full tail wind and knowing there was going to be some sweet fresh water at the end.
By this time Clare and Brooke were recovered from the hills and we were just getting pushed along the downhill home. I had a few stabs at getting the pace higher or trying to initially break away, but for some reason they were not interested in playing that game :) In the end I tried and failed again at about 600m to go and was going about 70kmph across the finish line for 6th overall.
There is always a game of patience when climbing, but positioning is also crucial. Another thing was that I ran out of water - only took 1 bottle. Fail. Many thanks to Clare and Brooke for helping me get back to the finish.
I drank about 1 litre of water back at the car and once my system had absorbed that, I was ravenously hungry! The good peeps at SKCC had a free gourmet BBQ and drinks to get us through and safely home.
While munching on a vege burger with the lot and some chicken strips, we had the presentations complete with a shower of sparkling white wine. Shane won his race and we had a lovely afternoon drive back to Melbourne with the promise of a nap on the couch to top of a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Next Race UP: I've been invited back to Building Champions Squad to join their escapades in the inaugural spring classic NRS race - Amy's Otway Classic.
